Programming switch and kiln unloader control



Sheet 7 'or '4 G, E. BEEMAN mun fl N INVENTOR. Beemarz Goraori E.

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April 29, 1969 PROGRAMMING SWITCH AND KILN UNLOADER CONTROL 24, 1965 Filed Aug.

April 29, 1969 G. E. BEEVIMANI PROGRAMMING SWITCH AND KILN UNLOADER CONTROL Sheet Filed Aug. 24, 1965 I INVENTOR. G'ai'aazz E Beemazrz w gi er April 29, 1969 G. E. BEEMAN PROGRAMMING SWITCH AND KILN UNLOADER CONTROL I Filed Aug. 24, 1965 Sheet T m m W 1 @a/ W Fwx B R A M a my ,4 B 35 W G v; v. N NN p K uT... 8 E H.. k N Mm.

Sheet 4 of g G. E. BEEMAN PROGRAMMING SWITCH A'ND KILN UNLOADER CONTROL med Aug. '24, 1965 April 29, 1969 A TTaFNEI.

United States Patent US. Cl. 200-4 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A programming system for effecting a sequence of later actions in the same order as a sequence of earlier stimuli including a base member having a plurality of motors mounted thereon and each including a finger associated therewith and a linkage for placing the finger into a post on the base member or withdrawing it therefrom, first control means for actuating each motor to move its associated finger onto said post in a predetermined sequence as the stimuli are sensed, and second control means for causing each motor to remove its associated finger from the post in the sequence it was placed thereon and effecting each subsequent action in the order in which said fingers are withdrawn.

The present invention relates to both an improved kiln unloader control and a mechanical deck selector or programming switch forming a part thereof.

In the gypsum industry it is common, during the fabrication of gypsum boards, to cure or dry the boards in a kiln. This kiln is a relatively long heated box-like structure through which the boards pass on roller conveyors. For the sake of manufacturing expediency there are a large number of decks in the kiln, each deck being in essence a roller conveyor for transporting the boards from the entrance of the kiln to the exit thereof. The decks are arranged in stack relationship so that a kiln may be considered a certain number of decks high. Since the kiln is relatively long, on the magnitude of approximately 500 feet, it can readily be seen that variations in speed of the roller conveyors of the various decks will cause the gYP- sum boards to travel through the kiln at different rates of speed on the various decks. Therefore, the boards will not necessarily reach the exit of the kiln in the order of loading onto the various decks. In view of the foregoing situation, if the boards were removed from the kiln in the same order as they were loaded onto the decks there could be a jam-up of boards at the end of the faster moving decks because the boards would have to be held at the exits of such faster moving decks until they were removed in the order of loading. This jam-up in the past has caused difiiculties in the manufacture of gypsum board and various controls have been devised in an attempt to obviate the foregoing shortcoming. However, these controls have been deficient in various respects.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a mechanical deck selector or programming switch which will register stimuli or impulses received in the order that decks of the kiln become ready to be unloaded and provide signals to effect unloading of said decks in the order in which they became ready to be unloaded. A related and broader object of the present invention is to provide a mechanical selector or programming switch for utilization in association with another device wherein impulses or stimuli are sensed in the order that actions are ready to be performed and said impulses are stored by said switch in the order they are received until such time as the switch causes actions to be performed in the sequence in which the impulses were received.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a control circuit for causing orderly and efiicient unloading of the various decks of gypsum board kiln in the order in which they become ready for unloading regardless of the specific rate of speed at which boards are moved on each deck. A related object of the present invention is to provide an improved kiln unloading control circuit capable of achieving the foregoing function, and in addition including a manual override for permitting any of the decks to be unloaded out of the order indicated of the control circuit, without disrupting the normal functioning of the control circuit, that is without destroying the sequence of operation previously set-up by the deck selector switch and its associated circuitry.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a deck selector or programming switch which is mainly mechanical in nature, simple in construction, and reliable in operation. Other objects and attendant advantages of the present invention will be readily perceived hereafter.

The improved deck selector or programming switch and associated circuit of the present invention operates as follows: A first limit switch is provided at the exit portion of each deck of the kiln. When a limit switch is triggered by a board ready to be discharged from a particular deck, a finger on the selector switch is caused to move onto a post. There are as many fingers as there are decks, with each finger being associated With a respective deck. There after when another deck is ready to be unloaded, the finger associated therewith will be moved by its associated mechanism on top of the finger previously positioned on the post. The same action occurs with respect to the remainder of the fingers, that is, whenever the deck associated with each of them is ready to be unloaded, the finger will be caused to move onto the post in overlying relationship to those fingers previously located on the post. At this point it isto be again noted that there is a finger and an associated finger moving mechanism for each deck. Each of the fingers is biased toward the post. When each of the fingers no longer rests on a finger which has preceded it to the post but reaches a position where it rests directly on the post, it will actuate a second limit switch associated therewith which in turn Will energize an electrical circuit and related mechanism for causing the deck corresponding to that particular finger to be unloaded, while preventing the unloading of the remainder of the decks at the time. Furthermore, once the second limit switch is actuated, the finger which actuated it will be withdrawn from its position on the post underneath the remainder of the fingers, and this finger will not be actuated again until the deck corresponding thereto is again ready to be unloaded and this finger will then be placed on top of all the fingers on the posts which preceded it. The second limit switch which is actuated immediately after the lowermost finger is withdrawn can then initiate operation of the unloading mechanism associated with the deck corresponding thereto. Because of the time delay inherent in the control circuit, unloading of a previous deck must be complete before a subsequent deck can be unloaded. It will readily be appreciated that the fingers associated with each deck will be placed on top of the pile in the order in which the decks become ready to be unloaded and therefore there is no regular sequence of deck unloading but the decks are unloaded in the order in which they become ready. In addition, a circuit includes a manual override control permitting any of the decks to be unloaded out of order, as desired, without disrupting the sequence already set up by the selector switch. The present invention will be more fully understood when the following portions of the specification are read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic view of a kiln having a plu- 3 rality of decks therein and related structure associated with the control of the present invention, FIGURE 1 being an elevational view;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of a portion of the kiln shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the improved mechanical deck selector switch of the present invention;

FIGURE 4 is a view taken substantially along line 4-4 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a schematic wiring diagram of the electrical circuit associated with the mechanical control of FIGURES 3 and 4; and

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of the various fingers of the selector switch mounted on the post in the order of unloading.

In FIGURE 1 a kiln 10 is shown in fragmentary section. This kiln has a plurality of decks numbered 1-8, inclusive, therein. Each of the decks have a plurality of rollers designated by a primed numeral corresponding to the number of the deck. These rollers are driven by a motor having the symbol MO with a sub number corresponding to that deck so that the motor which drives the rollers 1' of deck 1 is designated M0 and the motor for deck 2 is M0 etc. Since the kiln 10 is conventional in the art and since the decks of rollers therein are also conventional in the art and since the mechanical drive for the various conveyors and rollers within the kiln are conventional, further description thereof will not be made except insofar as it applies to the subject matter of the present invention.

In gypsum board plant operation the boards are formed by pouring a gypsum paste within sheets of covering paper and the resulting product is calendered to provide sheets of predetermined thickness. Thereafter, the boards are placed in a kiln such as 10 for subsequent drying and ouring and they are thereafter removed from the kiln for subsequent processing. The entrance to kiln 10 is not shown. FIG. 1 shows only the exit section. The kiln 10 may be approximately 500 feet long and conveyors therein are stacked one above the other, to a depth of eight conveyors in this instance. The speed of travel of the boards on each deck may vary for various reasons, and as a result, the first boards into the kiln are not necessarily the first boards ready to be taken out. This means that there can be no definite system of rotation in removing the boards from the exit end of the kiln inasmuch as certain decks will have to to be unloaded more frequently than others. If they are not, there will be jam-ups on certain decks which will in turn result in disruptions of production.

As can be seen from FIGURES 3 and 4 the improved mechanical deck selector or programming switch 11 of the present invention includes a horizontal circular plate or base 12 having eight identical hydroelectro-mechanical switching units 13-1 through 13-8 mounted thereon. The operation of only unit 13-1 will be described inasmuch as all of the switching units function in an identical manner. Each switching unit 13-1 through 13-8 includes a plate 14-1 through 14-8, respectively, each of said plates extending radially relative to base plate 12 and being equally spaced around the circle defined by base plate 12, that is, each plate 14 is spaced 45 degrees from an adjacent plate 14. The inner ends of each of said plates 14-1 through 14-8 are affixed to plate 12 by suitable bolts 15-1 through 15-8, respectively. Also mounted on base plate 12 at the exact center thereof is a post 16 having a top 17 and a lower portion 18 threaded through said base plate 12, said lower threaded portion 18 having a nut 19 thereon for adjusting the top 17 above the plane of the plate.

Switching unit 13-1 includes the following structure and it will be appreciated that units 13-2 through 13-8 have identical structure. Extending substantially perpendicularly from the outer end of plate 14-1 is a plate 20-1, the lower end of said plate being welded or otherwise rigidly .4 secured to plate 14-1. A pneumatic motor 21-1 has plate 22-1 thereof affixed to plate 20-1 by screws 23-1 in such a manner that shaft 24-1 of said motor extends through aperture 25-1 in plate 20-1. A piston 26-1 is located within motor housing 27-1. Air conduits 28-1 and 29-1 communicate with housing 27-1 on opposite sides of piston 26-1. The other ends of conduits 28-1 and 29-1 are in communication with four-way solenoid valve 30-1 which is in turn in communication with a source of compressed air (not shown) through conduit 31-1. Valve 30-1 may be Model B-33-A manufactured by the Bellows Valvair Corp. of Akron, Ohio and shown on page E-2 of its catalog, 1958, edition, second issue.

The outer end of shaft 24-1 mounts washer 32-1 and nut 33-1 which causes said washer to bear against plate 34-1 by virtue of the fact that a pin 35-1 extends through the end of shaft 24-1 and plate 34-1 is held between said washer 32-1 and said pin. Pivotally mounted on plate 34-1 by pins 38-1 and 39-1 are arms 36-1 and 37-1 respectively. It is to be noted from FIG. 3 that there are two of each of said arms 37-1 and 36-1. On the ends of arms 36-1 and 37-1 remote from pivots 38-1 and 39-1, respectively, plate 40-1 is mounted by pin connections 41-1 and 42-1, respectively, and the outer end of pin 41-1 mounts cam follower 43-1.

Whenever piston 26-1 is in the retracted position shown in FIGURE 4, the above described structure of unit 13-1 will occupy the solid-line position shown in FIGURE 4. Motor 21-1 is energized when limit switch LS-I (FIG. 1) is actuated by a board arriving at the exit end of deck 1, thereby indicating its readiness to be unloaded. As will become more apparent hereafter compressed air is admitted to the chamber 44-1 of cylinder 27-1 behind piston 26-1, in response to the actuation of switch LS-l when deck 1 is ready for unloading. Piston 26-1 will be caused to move to the right in FIGURE 4 and carry plate 34-1 and the structure mounted thereon to the right with it. It is to be noted that a guide rod 45-1 is fastened to plate 34-1 as by threads 46-1 and guide rod 45-1 extends through aperture 47-1 in plate 20-1 with a sliding fit to thereby guide plate 34-1 in a path which causes it to always remain parallel to plate 20-1. As noted above, when air is admitted to chamber 44-1 plate 34-1 will move to the right in FIGURE 4 and in so doing a point will be reached where cam follower 43-1 engages inclined surface 48-1 of cam 49-1 and will ride up on said surface 48-1. At this time arms 37-1 and 36-1 will tilt upwardly in FIGURE 4 about pivots 39-1 and 38-1, respectively, because the pivotal connections at both ends of said arms cause the structure consisting of plates 34-1 and 40-1 and arms 36-1 and 37-1 to in effect provide a parallelogram type of linkage. Therefore the finger or blade 50-1 which is fastened to the end of plate 40-1 by screws 51-1 will move both to the right in FIGURE 4 and upwardly as cam follower 43-1 moves up on inclined surface 48-1. A point will be reached when cam follower 43-1 leaves end 52-1 of cam 49-1 and at this time pivots 38-1 and 39-1 in conjunction with the force of gravity on arms 36-1 and 37-1 and plates 34-1 and 40-1 will cause the parallelogram linkage to reassume the configuration of a rectangle shown in FIGURE 4, but these elements will be displaced to the right so as to cause finger 50-1 to occupy an overlying relationship relative to vertical post 16. After the linkage assumes its rectangular configuration, the underside 53-1 of finger 50-1 will come to rest on the top 17 of post 16 assuming that there are no other fingers associated with other switching arrangements al ready resting on said posts. It is also to be noted that all the fingers which may have moved on to post 16 by analogous movement of their actuating mechanisms will lie in parallel planes because of the action of their respective parallelogram linkages (not shown) which function in the same manner as the parallelogram linkage carrying finger 50-1. Bar 34-1, mounted on plate 34-1, engages the undersides of arms 37-1 and prevents the parallelogram linkage from tilting downwardly from the rectangular solid line configuration in FIG. 4.

Cam 49-1 is secured to post 54-1 by screw 55-1 which extends through collar 56-1 located on the underside of cam 49-1 and screws into said post 54-1 which is secured to plate 14-1 by suitable screws 57-1. The upper surface of post 54-1 is inclined at 58-1 so that cam 49-1 rests thereon in the position shown in FIGURE 4 when torsion spring 59-1 biases it into engagement with said surface 58-1.

As noted above, whenever piston 26-1 of housing 27-1 is caused to move in the above described manner, the underside 53-1 of finger 50-1 will come to rest on the top 17 of post 16, assuming that other corresponding fingers associated with each of the other units 115-2 through 13-8 are not already in position on post 16. When finger 50-1 rests on top 17 of post 16 there will be no clearance between the undersurface of finger 50-1 and follower 60-1 of switch arm 61-1 associated with switch LS-SV-1 mounted on plate 14-1. Thus finger 50-1, by resting on follower 60-1 will energize switch LS-SV-l and a circuit will be completed to cause the deck 1 in the kiln to be unloaded as will become apparent hereafter. It is to be again emphasized at this point that all of the elements of structure described above relative to switching unit 13-1 and having a numeral followed by a -1 have corresponding counterparts associated wtih each of switching units 13-2 through 13-8 and that for the sake of ease of explanation and simplicity the other such elements of structure have been shown only schematically in FIGURE 3 and it is to be unequivocally understood that such structure has been omitted only in the interest of maintaining the relative simplicity of the drawings but that numerals 13-2 through 13-8 are intended to represent structure having all of the -1 structure associated with switching unit 13-1.

It is to be noted at this time that there are two distinct actions of unit 13-1 and the related units 13-2 through 13-8 in unloading the various decks of kiln in the order that they become ready. More specifically, as described above, whenever any of the limit switches LS-l through LS-8 associated with decks 1 through 8, respectively, is energized by the arrival of a board at the end of the kiln, the above described action will occur wherein a finger will be moved by its associated unit outwardly and upwardly to a position overlying the top 17 of post 16. If other fingers have preceded the particular finger being moved at a particular time this particular finger will merely come to rest on top of the other fingers and it will remain in its relative position with respect to the other fingers. The second action which is performed by the finger is to actuate a limit switch associated therewith when it reaches a position directly resting on top 17 of post 16, after other fingers resting on post 16 have been withdrawn. This causes a sequence of operations wherein the finger is withdrawn and the deck is unloaded, as will become more apparent hereafter.

As noted above, whenever the finger -1 associated with switching unit 13-1 comes to rest on the top 17 of post 16 microswitch LS-SV-l will be actuated to cause a deck to unload. However, during normal furnace operation it can be seen from FIGURE 6 that a plurality of fingers consisting of any combination of fingers 50-1 through 50-8 will be resting on top of each other with the lowermost one resting on the post 16. It was explained above how finger 50-1 came to rest on the top 17 of post 16. It is further to be noted that the other units when actuated, in response to the energization of the limit switches at the end of a respective deck, will also go through the movement described above relative to units 13-1 to cause the fingers 50-2 through 50-8 associated therewith to move outwardly away from the surface of plate 12 and then toward the post 16 after it drops off of the cam associated therewith and comes to rest either on the top 17 of the post or on top of any other of the fingers which have preceded it in position onto the post.

As will become more apparent hereafter, the time that the switching arrangement is energized for actuating any of the fingers 511-1 through 50-8 in the above described manner to a position overlying post 16 is when a stimulus is received that unloading of a particular deck should be effected by the actuation of the limit switch LS-l through LS-S associated with such deck. It can thus be seen that each of fingers 50-1 through 50-8 will be caused to move in overlying relationship to the top 17 of post 16 in the order that the decks are ready to be unloaded and as each finger moves down to a position in actual engagement with top 17 of post 16, the limit switch LS-SV-l through LS-SV-8 associated therewith will be actuated to effect unloading as will become more apparent hereafter. Stated another way, as each deck is ready to become unloaded it will be placed in the order to be unloaded after those decks which have previously provided a signal that they were in condition for unloading. However unloading of any specific deck is not effected until the finger representative thereof actually comes to rest on the top 17 of post 16.

The manner in Which the decks are unloaded in the order in which they become ready to be unloaded regardless of the order in which they were loaded, as a result of the use of the above described deck selector switch 11 is as follows:

As can be seen from FIGURE 2, boards B move in tandem along rollers 1'. A point will be reached where the leading edge 62 of one of the boards B engages LS-l to thereby indicate that a board has reached an end of deck 1 and that this deck is therefore ready to be unloaded. Since boards B may not travel at the same rate and one may be ahead of the other, a mechanical linkage 63 is provided to cause whichever board B comes to the end of deck 1 first to actuate switch LS-l. When limit switch LS-l is actuated, normally open contact 65 thereof (FIG. 5) will close and normally closed contact 66 thereof will open. A circuit will therefore be completed from L-l through leads 67, 67, 68, now closed contact 65, lead 69, and time delay relay 70 to L-2. The time delay relay is a device which when energized will cause contacts TD-l to close after a short time delay. Time delay relay TD-l may be of the type manufactured by the Allen Bradley Company and identified by Bul. 849 ZOD 321 and shown on page 121 of its catalog dated Apr. 27, 1959. This time delay permits the lagging board B to reach the leading board which is held by gate 99 so that both boards B will be removed from the kiln at the same time when gate 99 is opened. When contacts TD-l are closed, a circuit is completed from L-1, through leads 67, 67, 68, now closed contacts 65, leads 69, 71, now closed contacts TD-l, lead 72', relay CR-l, and lead 72 to L-2, thereby energizing relay CR-l. A circuit is also completed through lamp R through leads 73 and 74 to thereby indicate that deck 1 is ready for unloading. A circuit is also completed from lead 72' through solenoid valve coil SV-1 through leads 75, 76, coil SV-1, and lead 77 to line L-2.

Upon the energization of circuit relay CR-l in the above described manner, relay contacts 88 will close to thereby establish a holding circuit through relay CR-l, but only upon the subsequent closing of contacts 146 of relay M-1. This holding circuit will be established from L-1 to L-2 through lead 67, closed switch armature 80, armature 83, lead 84, normally closed contact of timer TR-ll, leads 86 and 87, contacts 146 of relay M-l, lead 87, contacts 88 of relay CR-l, lead 89, and then through the three paths containing leads 74, 72 and 77 leading to line L-Z. It is to be noted however that it is only when contacts 146 of relay M-1 close as described below that the circuit is completed to thereby maintain relay CR-l and coil SV-l energized regardless of the fact that contacts 65 of limit switch LS-1 may subsequently open when boards B no longer actuate it.

Coil SV-1 forms a part of bellows valve 30-1 and thus 7 permits compressed air to communicate with chamber 44-1 of cylinder 27-1 behind piston 26-1 and thereby cause the indexing structure actuated by said motor 21-1 to move through the steps described above and cause finger 50-1 to move into overlying relationship relative to post 16.

At this point it is to be again noted that one of two actions may occur. If other fingers are resting on post 17 ahead of finger 50-1, the latter will take its order on the top of the pile of fingers and wait its turn, in rotation, to move downwardly into engagement with post 16 after the fingers which preceded it have been withdrawn and then finger 50-1 itself is withdrawn from overlying relationship relative to post 16 when it eventually rests on top 17 of post 16. The second action which may occur is that finger 50-1 comes to rest directly on top 17 of post 16 if no other fingers are then lying ahead of it.

In any event when finger 50-1 reaches a position directly on top 17 of post 16, finger 50-1 will engage follower 60-1 and this will cause normally open contacts 93 of switch LS-SV-l (FIG. to close and complete the following circuits: First of all, a circuit will be completed through master switch 79, which is shown in the automatic position, as follows: The circuit will be completed from L-1 through lead 67, switch 80, armature 81, lead 82, closed contacts 90 of relay TR-9, lead 91, lead 92, now closed contacts 93 of switch LS-SV-1 (because finger 50-1 rests on follower 60-1), lead 94, now closed contacts 95 of relay CR-1, lead 95, lead 96, coil 97 of motor SV11 and lead 98 to L-2. If contacts 90 of timer TR-9 are open the foregoing circuit cannot be completed. As will become apparent hereafter these contacts 90 will be open when another deck is being unloaded to thereby prevent the completion of a circuit to relay M1. However, assuming that the circuit through contacts 90 is completed, the motor SV11 (FIG. 1) will be energized to thereby lower gate 99 against which boards B have come to rest to thereby permit said boards to move off of deck 1 upon actuation of rollers 1' by motors M0 In this respect, a circuit will be completed from line L-1 through lead 67, armature 80, armature 81, lead 82, closed contacts 90, leads 91, 92, now closed contacts 93 of switch LS-SV-1, lead 94, now closed contacts 95 of relay CR-l, leads 95, 100, 104 and 105, motor starting relay M1 and normally closed contacts 107 to line I-2 to thereby energize said motor starting relay M1. Upon the energization of relay M1, contacts 108 and 146 will close to maintain a holding circuit through motor relay M-1 from L-1 through lead 67, switch 80, armature 83, lead 84, closed contacts 85, lead 86, lead 87, now closed contacts 146 of relay M1, lead 87', lead 109, now closed contacts 108 of relay M1, lead 108', lead 105, relay M-1, and contacts 107 to line L-2. In addition, the above described holding circuit to relay CR-l will be established upon the closing of contacts 146. When motor M0 is energized, rollers 1 will be driven after gate 99 has been lowered and the boards B will be caused to move off of the conveyor. In addition, a circuit will be completed from contacts 95 through lead 95', lead 100, lead 101, unload light 102 and lead 103 to line L-2 to signal that deck 1 is being unloaded.

It is also to be noted at this time that upon the energization of motor starting relay M-l, contacts 110 will close and thus complete a circuit through relay R1 from line L-1 through leads 67, 67, 68, 111, now closed contacts 66 (because the motor M0 has already driven the boards B out of contact with limit switch LS-l) lead 112, now closed contacts 110 of relay M1, lead 113, relay R1 and lead 114 to line L-2.

Upon the energization of relay R1 in the foregoing manner contacts 115 of relay R1 will be closed to thereby complete a circuit from line L-1 through leads 67, 67, 117, 118, timer "FR-11. and lead 119 to line L-Z. Timer TR-11 is for the purpose of maintaining motor starting relay M1 and motor M0 in operation until the trailing edge of the boards B clear gate 99. Thereafter motor M0 stops and gate 99 returns to a closed position. More specifically, timer TR-11 has no internal holding circuit and it times only for a period of time after relay R1 was energized. After timer TR-11 times out, normally closed contacts 85 of timer TR-11 will open and then close, and the circuit to motor relay M1 is broken, while contacts 85 are open, to thus cause motor M0 to stop driving rollers 1'. In this respect, a circuit is no longer completed from L-1 through lead 67, armatures and 83, now open contacts of timer TR-ll, leads 86, 87, contacts 146 of relay M-l, leads 87 and 109, contacts 108 of relay M1, leads 108', 105, relay M-1 and contacts 107 to L-2. Furthermore, when contacts 85 of timer TR-11 open, the foregoing circuit to gate operating motor SV11 through contacts 108 of relay M1 will open, causing gate 99 to return to a closed position. In addition the breaking of the circuit to relay M-1, because of the opening of contacts 85, will cause contacts 110 of relay M1 to open breaking the circuit to relay R1.

In addition, the holding circuit through contacts 88 associated with relay CR-l is broken when contacts 85 of timer TR-11 open, so that all of the components contingent for operation on the energization of circuit relay CR-l return to the position shown in FIG. 5. In this respect, the opening of contacts 85 will prevent completion of the circuit from L-l through lead 67, armatures 80 and 83, leads 86 and 87, relay contacts 146, lead 87', contacts 88 of relay CR-l, leads 89 and 75, relay CR-l and lead 72 to L-2. Flow of current through coil SV-1 of valve 30-1 will terminate at this time on the opening of contacts 85 of relay TR-11 to cause finger 50-1 to be retracted.

In this respect, when coil SV-l is deenergized, flow of compressed air to chamber 44-1 of cylinder 27-1 will terminate and compressed air will be supplied to the other side of the piston to thereby retract the indexing mechanism 13-1 to the position shown in FIGURE 4. In this respect piston 26-1 will return to the position shown in FIGURE 4 and the linkage consisting of members 34-1, 36-1, 37-1 and 43-1 will return to the position shown in FIGURE 4. However, at this point cam follower or roller 43-1 will hit the underside of cam 49-1 which, as noted above, is biased to its position on top of post 54-1 by a torsion spring. However, this torsion spring 59-1 will permit cam 49-1 to yield in a clockwise direction about pin 55-1 to thereby permit the above described linkage to return to the solid line position shown in the drawing. After cam follower 43-1 loses engagement with the underside of cam 49-1 the latter will be caused to resume the position shown in FIG- URE 4 under the bias of torsion spring 59-1.

Timer TR-9 is also energized when contacts 116 of relay R1 close and when relay R-l is energized in the above manner because a circuit is completed from L-1 through leads 67, 67, 117, 120, contacts 116 of relay R1 and lead 121 to L-2. When contacts 116 close, normally closed contacts 90 of timer TR-9 open to the position shown in the circuit and reclose at the end of the timing period. By virtue of contacts 90 being open during the unloading of the deck 1 all the other decks are prevented from unloading in this time period because circuits cannot be completed to the switches LS-SV-Z through LS-SV-8 associated with fingers 50-2 through 50-8, re spectively, because lead 91 leading to all of the limit switches LS-SV-l through LS-SV-8 leads from open contacts 90. After timer TR-9 times out contacts 90 are reset in a closed position to permit any of closed limit switches LS-SV-2, etc. to initiate unloading of their respective decks. Timers TR-9 and TR-11 may be of the type manufactured by the General Electric Company and designated as Electronic timer CR-7504-Al42 and shown in the companys instruction book GEH 1476-D dated September 1956. The timer TR-9 is connected as shown in FIGURE 12 of the book and timer TR-11 is connected as shown in FIGURE 9 of the book.

It is to be noted that all of the fingers which are in overlying relationship relative to post 16 will retain their positions in the order that they were placed over the post until they are withdrawn as a result of engaging their respective limit switches LS-SV-l through LS-SR-8. In other words, if there are a number of fingers on the post only the bottom one will be withdrawn at any given time. In this respect it was described above how finger 50-1 is withdrawn when deck 1 is being unloaded. Assuming that deck 8- is also ready to be unloaded at this time it can be seen that a circuit will be completed from L-1 through leads 67, 67, 68, 111,130, 131, closed contacts 132 of limit switch LS-8 (which is closed because a board is on deck 8 ready to be discharged) leads 133 and 134, time delay relay 135 (which is identical to time delay relay 70 described above) and lead 136 to line L-Z. In the same manner, as noted above relative to time delay relay 70, after a period of time, contacts 137 of time delay relay 135 will close to complete a circuit from lead 133 to L-2 through lead 139, now closed contacts 137, leads 140 and 141, circuit relay CR-8 and lead 142 to L-2. A circuit will also be completed through coil SV-S which is identical to coil SV-l because current will flow from lead 140 through leads 143 and 144, coil SV-S and lead 145 to L-2. Coil SV-8 energizes the solenoid valve 30-8 (not shown) associated with switching unit 13-8 (FIG. 3), solenoid valve 30-8 being identical to valve 30-1 described above. Whenever the solenoid valve 30-8 is energized, the piston within motor 21-8 (not shown, but identical to motor 21-1), will cause finger 30-8 to overlie post 16. However, as noted above, relative to limit switch LS-SV-l, limit switch LS-SV-S (FIG. 5) cannot be actuated by its associated finger 50-8 (analogous to finger 50-1) until the finger 50-8 actually reaches a position on the top 17 of post 16 where it can engage limit switch LS-SV-8. It can thus be seen that, regardless of the fact that the finger resting directly on the top 17 of post 16 was removed, the remainder of the fingers in overlying relationship relative to post 16 will retain their respective positions until they actually actuate their associated limit switches LS-SV-2 through LS-SV-8.

If for any reason it is desired to unload the decks manually, it is merely necessary to move armatures 81 and 83 of switch 79 to the H contacts. Thereafter to unload any of the decks it is merely necessary to complete a circuit between L-l and L-2 by the closing of the switch 130 associated with deck 1 or analogous switches associated with the other decks. Upon the closing of switch 130, a circuit will be completed between L-1 and L-2 through lead 67, armature 80, armature 81, lead 131', lead 132, switch 130 and lead 133 to motor start relay M-1, unload light 102 and armature 97 of solenoid valve SV-ll which lowers gate 99. T hereafter the motor for deck 1 will be energized and the gate will be lowered and a holding circuit will be established maintaining the motor in operation through contacts 146 and 108 of relay M-l, said contacts 146 and 108 closing on the energization of relay M-l. In addition, the closing of contacts 110 of relay M-l, upon the energization of relay M-l, will cause a circuit to be completed between L-1 and L-2 through leads 67, 67, 68, 111, contacts 66, lead 112, now closed contacts 110 of relay M-l, lead 113, relay R-1 and lead 114. The energization of relay R-1 will cause contacts 115 associated with timer TR-ll to close to thereby actuate said timer and cause it to perform the functions which it previously performed under automatic operation. However, timer TR-9 will be ineffectual because there can be no current flowing through contacts 90 of timer TR-9 because armature 81 of switch 79 is on the hand (H) position. However, contacts 85 of timer TR-11 will remain closed until timer TR-11 times out and when it opens it will disrupt the circuit through contacts 146 and 108 of motor relay M-1 to thereby cause the motor to stop and the gate 99 to return to a position blocking exit from the deck.

It is also to be noted that whenever a deck is discharged as a result of manual actuation in the manner described above there will be no disruptions of the order in which the remainder of the decks are unloaded. More specifically, it can be seen that the circuits to each of the relays analogous to relay CR-l and to the valve actuating coils analogous to coils SV-l remain energized for each of the decks notwithstanding that switch 79 may have been moved to the H position. More specifically it can 'be seen that leads 67, 67', 68, contacts 65, lead 69 and time delay relay 70 permit fiow of current to relay CR-l and coil SV-l. The same is true for the remainder of the analogous circuitry associated with decks 2 through 8. Thus, the moving of the switch 79 to the hand position H and the subsequent actuation of the manual unload switch such as 130 has no etfect on the manner in which the fingers remain stacked on the post.

However, it will be noted that once a deck, such as deck 1, has been cleared by the manual actuation of a switch such as 130, contacts such as 65 of LS-l at the end of the deck will open. When timer TR-11 times out and contacts 85 open momentarily, the circuit through contacts 88 of circuit relay CR-1 will be broken and circuit relay CR-l will be denergized. Thus the flow of current to coil SV-l of valve 30-1 will be disrupted when relay CR-ll is deenergized and valve 30-1 (FIG. 3) will supply the compressed air to motor 21-1 and thus retract the finger from the pile on post 16-1. The remainder of the fingers lying between the finger which is pulled out and the top of the post will not be affected but will retain their previous relative positions. The fingers above the finger which is pulled out will drop down onto those fingers already on the post. The only elfect of the manual clearing of any deck by the use of a switch such as 130 is to permit any deck to be cleared, as desired, for any reason whatsoever without afiecting the sequence of clearing any of the other decks.

Summarizing, it can be seen how the energization of limit switch LS-l by board B ready to be discharged from deck 1 initiates a series of actions including the placing of finger 50-1 in overlying relationship to post 16, either directly on top 17 of said post or on top of the fingers which have preceded it. As each limit switch LS-l through LS-8 associated with each deck 1 through 8, respectively, becomes energized, the indexing mechanism will thus be energized to cause a finger to be placed either on the top 17 of post 16 or on top of the other fingers which have preceded it to such a position. And further it will be noted that each finger will move downwardly in order as the lowermost finger is retracted upon the energization of the limit switch associated therewith. When finger 50-1 is on top 17 of post 16 the limit switch LS-SV-l will be energized to cause the motor MO-l to run and drive rollers 1 of deck 1. Furthermore, gate 99 will be lowered to permit boards B to be discharged from the end of the kiln, While the foregoing action is being effected, finger 50-1 will be withdrawn from the bottom of the pile to a dormant position pending subsequent actuation of LS-l by the next board, whereupon finger 50-1 will move onto the top of the pile of fingers which have preceded it to post 16. While deck 1 is being unloaded, the unloading circuits to the remainder of switches LS-SV-l through LS-SV-8 remain open to prevent another deck from unloading simultaneously with deck 1. However, when finger 50-1 is withdrawn from the bottom of the pile the next finger will physically actuate one of the respective switches LS-SV-l through LS-SV-8 associated therewith.

From FIGURE 5 it can be seen that each deck 2 through 8 has a circuit associated therewith which is identical to the circuit described above with respect to deck 1. The circuits for decks 2 through 7 are designated Paral- 1 l lel Connections to Decks 2 Thru 7. Each of these circuits operates in a manner identical to that described above relative to deck 1.

After the boards leave each of the decks 1 through 8, they will travel on the conveyors 201 to 208, respectively, until they reach conveyor 209 which takes them to a subsequent work station. It is to be noted that the time delays inherent in the operation of the deck unloading mechanism provide a sufficiently long time interval between discharging of successive decks so that the boards will not interfere with each other when they pass from conveyors 201 through 208 onto conveyor 209.

In lieu of the construction shown in FIGURE 4 for permitting the cam 49-1 to yield upwardly upon the return of finger 50-1 from post 16, cam 49-1 may be stationary and links 37-1, 40-1 and 36-1 may be spring biased to the solid line position shown in FIG. 4, but may yield downwardly and to the right as cam follower 43-1 engages the undersurface of stationary cam 49-1 upon the removal of finger 50-1 from post 16. After the foregoing defiection the linkage will return to its solid line position because of the action of the spring. In this alternate construction, bar 34-1 is not used, as this bar prevents downward movement of links 37-1, 40-1 and 36-1.

In the event that it becomes necessary to terminate unloading of the kiln for a short period of time, switch 80 (FIG. is opened. However, in this case all of the fingers previously on the post will retain their relative positions and will not be withdrawn in view of the fact that current is still supplied to the circuit by line 67' which bypasses switch 80. Whenever switch 80 is closed the unloading action of the kiln will be resumed. If desired, switch 80 and switch 79 may be located at a point remote from the control panel on which the rest of the electrical components are mounted to thereby effect both unloading through switch 80 and shifting between hand and automatic control through switch 79 from any desired remote position at which it is convenient.

While a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been disclosed it will readily be appreciated that it may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim: a

1. A switch for effecting a sequence of later actions in the same order as a sequence of earlier stimuli comprising a base member, a plurality of fingers mounted on said base member, a motor operatively associated with each of said fingers, stop means on said base member,

means for causing each of said motors to move each of said fingers into overlying relationship relative to said stop means in response to one of said earlier stimuli, linkage means coupling each of said motors to each of said fingers to cause the finger being moved to rest either on said stop means or on top of the last finger to have preceded it to a position on said stop means, means for effecting said later actions in the order in which said fingers were placed in overlying relationship relative to said stop means, and means for causing each of said fingers to be withdrawn from said overlying relationship relative to said stop means when it reaches a predetermined position relative to said stop means.

2. A switch for effecting a later sequence of second actions in the same order as an earlier sequence of first actions comprising a base member, a post centrally mounted on said base member, a plurality of fingers circumferentially positioned about said post and extending radially toward said post, a motor coupled to each of said fingers and responsive to said first actions for causing an associated finger to selectively move in overlying relationship relative to said post so that said associated finger rests either on said post or on top of the last finger to have preceded it to a position on said post, means for causing said motor to withdraw its associated finger from said post when it reaches a position directly resting on said post, means for biasing each of said fingers toward said post so that after each finger is moved 01f of its position on said post a finger which previously rested on said withdrawn finger will move into position on said post, and means responsive to the finger resting directly on said post for effecting one of said second actions.

3. A switch for effecting a sequence of later actions in the same order as a sequence of earlier stimuli comprising: a base member; stop means mounted on said base member; a plurality of switching units mounted on said base member and circumferentially spaced from each other about said stop means; each of said switching units including motor means, a finger and linkage means operatively coupling said motor means to said finger for causing said motor means to move said finger toward and away from said stop means; each of said fingers extending in a direction toward said stop means and being movable from a position remote from said stop means to a position in overlying relationship relative to said stop means; means forming a part of each of said switching units for causing said linkage means to move said finger both radially and axially relative to said stop means whereby said finger will move radially into overlying relationship relative to said stop means and thereafter move axially toward said stop means; switch means forming a part of each of said switching units for engagement by a respective finger when said finger moves into a predetermined position relative to said stop means, said switch means being spaced from a respective finger when said respective finger of said switching unit does not occupy said predetermined position, whereby said later actions are effected by the actuation of the switch means associated with each of said fingers as each of said fingers moves into said predetermined position, said movement of each of said fingers into said predetermined position being effected in the order in which said fingers were placed in overlying relationship relative to said stop means.

4. A switch for effecting a sequence of later actions in the same order as a sequence of earlier stimuli comprising a base member, a plurality of motors mounted on said base member, a finger associated with each of said motors, linkage means coupling each of said motors to each of said fingers for moving said fingers to first and second positions, means for causing each of said motors to place said associated fingers in said first positions when said stimuli are not sensed, means for causing said motors to place said fingers in said second positions in the order in which said stimuli are sensed, and means for effecting said sequence of later actions by said fingers in the order in which they were placed in said second positions.

5. A programming system for effecting a sequence of later actions in the same order as a sequence of earlier stimuli comprising: a base member, a plurality of motors mounted on said base member, a finger associated with each of said motors, linkage means coupling each of said motors to each of said associated fingers for moving said fingers to first and second positions, sensing means associated with each of said motors for sensing the presence of a stimulus, means for causing each of said motors to place said associated fingers in said first positions when said stimuli are not present means for causing said motors to place said associated fingers in said second positions and in an order in which said stimuli are sensed by said sensing means, and means for effecting said sequence of later actions by said fingers in the order in which they were placed in said second positions.

6. A switch for effecting a sequence of later actions in the same order as a sequence of earlier stimuli comprising: a base member; stop means mounted on said base member; a plurality of switching units mounted on said base member and circumferentially spaced from each other about said stop means; each of said switching units including motor means, a finger and linkage means operatively coupling said motors means to said finger for causing said motor means to move said finger toward and away from said stop means; said linkage means including a parallelogram type of linkage including a first side coupled to said motor means and a second side opposite said first side mounting said finger, and a pair of sides having first ends pivotally mounted on said first side and pivotally mounting said second side; cam means on said base member; cam follower means on said parallelogram type of linkage; said cam means causing said cam follower means to traverse a path which causes said parallelogram type of linkage to change its configuration and move said finger in an axial direction away from said base member as said finger moves radially toward said stop means until said finger approaches a position in overlying relationship relative to said stop means, said parallelogram type of linkage causing said finger to maintain substantial parallelism with said base member as said finger traverses its combined radial and axial path relative to said stop means, said parallelogram type of linkage causing said finger to traverse an axial path relative to said stop means after said cam follower means leaves said cam means until said finger comes into contact with said stop means or in contact with the last finger to have preceded it onto said stop means; means associated with each of said fingers for providing said sequence of later actions as each of said fingers moves into engagement with said stop means; and means for withdrawing each of said fingers from said stop means after each of said fingers move into engagement with said stop means.

7. A system for effecting a sequence of later separate actions in the same order as a sequence of earlier separate stimuli comprising: a base member; stop means on. said base member; a plurality of switching units each responsive to a separate stimulus; means mounting each of said switching units on said base member in spaced relationship about said stop means; each of said switching units including motor means, an associated finger, and linkage means coupling said associated finger to said motor means; first switch means associated with each of said switching units for sensing each of said separate stimuli and for causing the motor means responsive to a respective stimulus to move an associated finger from a first position remote from said stop means to a second position proximate said stop means in the same order in which said earlier stimuli are sensed;'means for moving said associated fingers to a predetermined orientation relative to said stop means while in said second positions;

second switch means forming a part of each of said switching units for providing said separate later actions in the order in which said fingers were moved to said second positions as each of said fingers move to said predetermined orientation relative to said stop means; and means for causing said motor means to return associated fingers to said first positions after said fingers have moved to said predetermined positions for effecting actuation of said second switch means to provide said sequence of later actions.

8. A system for effecting a sequence of later separate actions in the same order as a sequence of earlier separate stimuli as set forth in claim 7 including means for selectively effecting one of said later actions out of the order in which said sequence of earlier stimuli were experienced without disrupting the order in which the remainder of later separate actions are effected in response to the remainder of the earlier separate stimuli.

9. A programming system for effecting a sequence of later actions in the same order as a sequence of earlier actions comprising a base member, stop means on said base member, a plurality of fingers located about said stop means, means for moving said fingers toward and away from said stop means, means for sensing said earlier actions, means for causing said fingers to occupy a first predetermined position relative to said stop means when said earlier actions are not sensed, means for causing said fingers to occupy a second predetermined position relative to said stop means when said first actions are sensed, means for causing said fingers to effect said second actions in the order in which they were placed in said second predetermined positions, and means for causing anyone of said second actions to be effected out of order in which said first actions were sensed without disrupting the order in which the remainder of said second sections are effected.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 12/1933 Rugh 178-33 

